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Valerie Duff’s polished style is thoughtful and observant, her fluent voice compressed and controlled. She constructs meticulous lines with (to borrow one of her phrases from these pages) a “stonecutter’s precision.”
Big band leader Arturo O’Farrill points out that “Santiago Brooklyn Santiago” makes a forceful argument that the embargo between Cuba and the United States should be done away with.
In “Fat Ham,” Black pain and repressed desire are transformed into a celebration of liberation and empowerment — once the villain du jour, the patriarchy, has been dispatched.
Each month, our arts critics — music, book, theater, dance, television, film, and visual arts — fire off a few brief reviews.
Less is more in Wes Anderson’s adaptation of Roald Dahl’s “The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar”.
The bottom line: the Tedeschi Trucks Band proved that the group, and its hybrid of classic rock, soul, blues, and jazz, could rule on arena stages.
“American Purgatory” is the sort of book reactionary politicians and organizations are trying to ban. It’s full of evidence that many of the attitudes and conditions prevalent in this country from its founding were racist, bigoted, even genocidal.
Dramatist Donald Margulies seems to be putting his hand on the heart of the heartland — as well as taking the pulse of a pair of aging boomers.
This week’s poem: Jiwon Choi’s “The Universe Is All About Pranks”
Jazz Commentary: Four Recent Composer-Driven Jazz Releases — New Wine in New Bottles
Four recent releases illustrate what can happen when the only limits are the imagination of the composer and the passion of the performers.
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